


Always Be My Baby

by annaxmims



Series: Tumblr Prompts [114]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Fluff, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Math is hard, TK Loves Hugs, Tarlos as Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:55:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27479935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annaxmims/pseuds/annaxmims
Summary: Ok ok, I LOVE Noah so much! We’ve seen such cute little Noah, but what about a teenage Noah having a rotten day and thinking he’s too old for cuddles but like, his dad is TK, and therefore that is just not an excuse so they end up snuggling on the couch when Carlos comes home
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: Tumblr Prompts [114]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1626286
Comments: 2
Kudos: 172





	Always Be My Baby

TK jumped when the door slammed open and his son stalked inside, at least having the decency to shut it somewhat quietly after giving his father a heart attack.

“Whoa, there tornado. What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Homework.”

Noah made to push past him to go upstairs but TK stopped him.

“Uh uh, slow your roll kiddo. What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing. I just had a bad day.”

“Do you want a hug?”

“No Dad. I’m not a baby,” he wrenched his arm out of TK’s grasp and turned away. “I have homework,” he muttered.

He tried to pretend he hadn’t seen his dad’s heartbreak as he stalked up the stairs to his bedroom. He threw his backpack on his desk, ignoring the homework he’d come upstairs to do, and collapsed on his bed. He really hadn't meant to yell at his dad. He was just angry. He’d spent hours studying for his math test and Papa had even helped him. He’d felt confident that he’d at least pulled out a B, but when his teacher handed it back there was a big red D circled on the top of his paper, along with a paper for his parents to sign indicating that they’d seen the grade. It sucked. He’d felt so prepared and thought he did well, but now he felt like a failure. There was a whine and a soft scratch at his door and Noah got up to let Buttercup in. Buttercup jumped in his bed and curled up against the wall. Noah followed suit, pressing his face into Buttercup’s soft fur.

He curled in on himself and buried himself in his covers when he heard Papa come home from work. Papa was generally calm and level headed but Noah knew he’d have his ass for hurting Dad’s feelings. He’d be doing laundry and dishes for at least a month. 

He heard the muffled sounds of his parents talking downstairs before heavy footsteps came up the stairs and approached his door. He knew the sound of his Papa’s work boots anywhere and curled up further under the covers, wishing a hole would open up on the floor and eat him. He really didn’t want to see his disappointed face, he already felt bad enough. 

“Noah,” Papa tapped lightly on his door. “Can I come in buddy?”

“Yeah.”

Noah sat up as Carlos entered his room, pulling his stuffed rabbit into his lap like a shield. Buttercup wiggled closer and laid his head on his thigh.

“Hey bud, Dad said you had a rough day at school,” Carlos perched on the edge of his bed and placed a soft hand on his ankle.

“Yeah,” he muttered, rubbing the soft ear of his rabbit. “I didn’t do good on that math test even after we spent so much time studying. I didn’t mean to snap at him, I promise. I was just mad. I’m sorry.”

“I understand you were upset buddy and I’m not mad at you. But I’m also not who you should be apologizing to.”

Noah nodded, feeling the tears prickling his eyes, “Is Dad mad at me?”

“No, he’s not mad. You know he doesn’t get mad at you for anything. You did hurt his feelings though.”

Noah nodded again, “Where is he?”

“Our bedroom.”

Noah scrambled out of his bed, still feeling like a little kid as he clutched his stuffed rabbit.

He knocked on the half-open door and peeked in at where TK was sitting on the bed, folding his and Carlos’ work uniforms.

“Dad? Can I come in?”

“Of course bubba.”

Noah ran across the room and threw himself in TK’s arms, causing him to lose his balance and fall back on the bed. 

“Woah, hey. It’s okay.”

Noah sniffled and tucked his head in TK’s neck, clutching at his shirt. 

“I’m sorry I snapped at you Dad. I made a bad grade on my math test and now you and Papa have to sign a paper and I thought I did good and-”

“Noah, breathe bubba. It’s okay, I promise. You’re not in trouble. It’s alright,” he rocked Noah lightly as he used to when he was smaller and rubbed his back. 

When Noah was calmer he pulled away and rubbed his cheek gently, “Now tell me all that again, but slower.”

“I got a bad grade on my math test.”

“The one that you studied for?”

“Yeah. Papa even helped me and I thought I was ready, but I made a D. Now you and Papa have to sign a paper because if I keep making bad grades I’m gonna fail. I thought I did really good, Dad, I don’t know why I keep making bad grades.”

“Buddy I know how hard you studied for that test. You and Papa spent hours working on it and you did your best. We know that. We’re not mad about the grade okay. But we want to help you. So Papa and I will set up a meeting with your teacher to see what we can do to bring your grade up alright?”

“Okay.”

“But we’re not gonna worry about it tonight. It’s Friday, so tonight Papa is gonna order pizza and we’re gonna watch whatever movie you wanna watch. And we’re not gonna think about your math test this weekend. It’s over and done with and we’re not gonna worry about it anymore. Then on Monday, we’ll sign whatever we need to sign and talk to your teacher to see what we can do to help you. And Noah, as long as you do your best we’re always gonna be proud of you okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good,” TK kissed his head and gave him one more squeeze. “Now go tell Papa what kind of pizza you want.”

Noah climbed off of the bed and made a stop in his room to put his rabbit back before going into the kitchen to find Papa.

“Feel better?” he asked, pulling him into a hug.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Good.”

“Dad said we’re ordering pizza.”

“Oh did he? Well, what kind of pizza does he want?”

“He said I could pick.”

“Good. He always orders that veggie pizza that Grandpa likes.”

Noah made a face that made Carlos laugh, “Bacon and sausage right?”

“Yep. Can we get cheese bread too?”

“Sure why not.”

“Yay.”

TK came downstairs while Carlos was placing the order and got the tv set up for movie night. He and Noah dragged out every pillow and blanket in the house to make a huge nest on their living room floor. When the pizza was delivered, TK dimmed the lights just enough that they could still see their food and settled into the nest on Noah’s left side. Papa was on his right and handed him the remote to scroll through the movie options.

He finally settled on Atlantis, a family favorite. When they were finished with their pizza, they discarded their trash outside of the nest to be taken care of later and snuggled up together under the layers of blankets.

Noah had his back to Papa’s side and his head on Dad’s shoulder. Buttercup was snoring somewhere at their feet. 

“Thank you, Dad.”

TK didn’t ask what for just kissed the top of his head and whispered, “Anytime kid.”

He paused and then spoke again, “You know you’re always gonna be my baby right.”

“I know. I’m okay with that.”


End file.
